Mist

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"... but, I used to be a bit of a handful when I was a kid," Magna continued his story with a permanent grin plastered on his face.

His laughter echoed through the morning air, filled with energy and vigour. It's no wonder Asta was plastered by the senior, according to the black fox.

'Used to be?' the others deadpanned as they thought to themselves, doubting the senior's words.

'Like you aren't now?' Noelle and Rhein pointed out in secret, not wanting to anger the only Magic Knight senior they had there.

Before Magna was telling his story, the two squads actually chatted and bantered on and off about their own squads.

Asta was ranting about how "cool" Magna was as a senior to him, and how Noelle complained about the most little things she could find.

–– it was an amusing experience, to say the least.

Xierra was somewhat glad to have Noelle around. Even though she's not the best people she had met, Noelle was kind and caring–– in her own way.

The two chatted and became friends pretty quickly, actually.

Rhein was shocked that his partner immediately took a liking to the silver-haired royal, and vice versa.

Even Asta and Magna were somewhat surprised that Noelle, who kept calling him a bug and underestimating him, was friends with the former's foster sister–– well, Asta wasn't exactly surprised.

Inari could only scoff at their reactions and snickered. "Ah, youth~"

Rhein who walked beside Inari laughed lightly. "'Youth?' How old are you, Inari? You sound like an old man."

The fox grinned knowingly, sparing the brunet a glance before replying, "I've lived long before you were born, at least."

"Yeah, I can see that."

The two squads, despite their differences, got along nicely.

They did bicker a lot, much to Inari's dismay. However, the fact that almost every conversation they had was at different topics each time, even Xierra had fun listening to all their stories.

Magna continued with the story of his past–– from when he met Old Man Seyhe to the day he's walking in front of them now.

"I got a big head after I got my grimoire and went into Saussy Village with the intent of taking over, too."

'Wait, what?! Why the hell do you want to take over a village?!'

'Err, everyone has their own preferences, I guess?' Xierra sweatdropped and laughed.

Inari looked shocked for a second before a bead of sweat dripped down. He then heaved a small sigh and thought, 'Well, I'm not doubting him on this one...'

"And then..."

Magna told them how he chased the villagers with raging fireballs emitted from his hands as he rode his trusty pal, Crazy Cyclone.

No matter how weird of a name he gave it, Xierra and Rhein tried REAL hard not to laugh while Inari just went away to let out his amusement loudly into the wild, ignoring Magna's protests.

Saussy Village's chief stopped Magna from doing anything else with his magic, summoning who-knows-how-many swords around him and commanded them to charge at the troublemaker.

Magna was too focused on escaping that he "almost" bumped into a wall.

–– well, he did, actually.

Crazy Cyclone threw him off of it, which caused him to splat towards a nearby brick wall and kissed it.

Seyhe's magic swords pinned his clothes, gloves, and pants. They also nearly stabbed his head, but barely missed.

The part where he laughed at his own story was where the chief started spanking him on the butt and his pants fell. The spanks were done with a single flat part of a sword of the chief's magic.

"... Since then, I've challenged that old man so many times. But then he kept beating me with that steel magic of his. He whooped my ass every time."

Magna grinned back to the newbies who trailed behind him. Inari was already back on Xierra's shoulder, yawning lazily like always.

Half of the boars the fox was supposed to carry were floating behind them with small whirling flames below their cold forms.

Rhein was forced to carry some of the boars with his magic by the old fox, causing him to grunt–– since he didn't dare to disobey Inari, despite Xierra telling the human that she'd carry them herself.

The other half Inari carried were all lifted by the tip of his tail. One would wonder how a long, fluffy tail of a fox could carry that many boars.

Well, he's a god, it shouldn't be that unbelievable–– but, it was.

"He must be strong," Noelle commented with a neutral expression, Xierra beside her nodding in agreement.

Meanwhile, Rhein was chuckling in amusement at Asta's poor condition, struggling to carry several boars while he only carried many with a spell.

"I found this out later, but Old Man Seyhe had enough magical power that he aspired to be a Magic Knight when he was younger."

The grin on the senior's face didn't falter one bit. He seemed proud.

"He's the one who suggested that I take the Magic Knights Entrance Exam. It's all because of him that I'm here right now," the older male spoke giddily.

Magna gave the teens behind him a thumbs up with his free hand. "When I passed the Magic Knights Entrance Exam, he was happier for me than anyone."

"He must be a nice person." Xierra gave the Black Bull senior a closed-eye smile, earning a bright grin in return. Noelle nodded along with the other female, giving a small smile.

"Yeah. And he went to the royal capital–– well, to get rich quick so he could make some money for his village. But, I think he also came to see me," Magna claimed confidently.

"He did take me for every bit of change I had, though! But, he's the one who showed me what a real man should be."

The group continued walking in comfortable silence, something others wouldn't expect from the two squads.

With the chirps of the birds by the forest and the rhythmic taps of their footsteps, another thing that was heard were Inari's continuous yawns and the whispers of the gales.

A small breeze blew between the strands of their hair and kissed their cheeks cold. The air was somewhat warm, so they needed a little wind as they walked.

"I wanted to be just like him, the person I respect most after Yami-san..." Magna trailed off and pursed his lips.

Xierra smiled at his words, humming in acknowledgement.

"That's good, isn't it?" the female replying in all honesty. "It's nice to have a dream. It's nice to have someone to look up to."

She wasn't only talking about Magna.

She's talking about Asta, Yuno, and herself as well.

They all had a dream at one point.

They all had someone to look up to at one point in their lives.

As they walked past by the verdant forest, a brick bridge came into sight. The fork in front of them wasn't too confusing as they could already tell which one led to the village and which one led them back.

Walking on the surface of the bridge, the temperature felt a tad bit hotter than before. The wind became warmer and the land below the structure was dried up as if it hadn't rained there in ages.

'Jeez, I'm burning here...' Inari complained and huffed, looking around in an attempt to find a water source for him to drink from.

The white-haired female giggled at her fox companion's reaction to the heat. She would be lying if she said she wasn't hot either.

–– sweats formed a lot more than usual.

Just then, the merry chirps of the birds that seemed to sang along with their steps stopped slowly. Their sounds began to fade away seconds by seconds.

Xierra blindly guessed that it's due to them nearing the village and leaving the vicinity of the forest area further and further behind.

However, the senior in front of them came to a halt, making the others behind him stop as well. The older male placed down his boar harshly, looking ahead with a serious face.

"Magna-senpai?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"What is it?"

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Magna panted and voiced no immediate response.

His breath was ragged and his lungs were burning, but the male could care less. All he's thinking about wasn't the mission, but the place that stood in silence before them.

The pair of orbs behind the darkened shades he wore widened in shock. His legs trembled and his lips parted quiveringly.

Xierra raised an eyebrow as to why the male was suddenly quiet. Her eyes followed his line of sight and they widened as well, not expecting their destination to look like so.

"What the heck is this...?" Magna inquired slowly as he ran, leaving the rest and his boar behind.

The newbies looked at each other before catching up to the seemingly panicked Magna, putting down their boars on the ground as well–– including Inari.

Magna rushed further into the bridge, Saussy Village was already in their line of sight–– no, it's already standing in front of them.

However, a frown made it to the older male's face, his eyebrows twitching with worry and sweat rolled down.

"The village..." Magna began, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"It's covered in mist...?" Rhein pointed out as well, shocked.

Inari's fox ears twitched when he saw what the two males were talking about. He squinted his gold eyes, trying to make out what was happening in the said village.

–– the result was null.

'I have a bad feeling about this, Master.'

'Me, too.'

Saussy Village was covered in mist that was shaped like a dome. It was unnatural no matter how much they thought about it.

How could the mist be shaped when it's a substance they couldn't even touch?

Unless...

'... Magic?'

'Exactly, Master. We need to be careful from here on out.'

"This place sure has lousy weather."

Asta's stupid comment earned him a harsh smack in the back from none other than Rhein Vermillion. "That's not it, you dumbass. It's obviously magic, how could you not see?"

"Don't be stupid," Noelle added in and flipped one of her silver pigtails, scoffing in disbelief at Asta's blunt yet idiotic remark.

"What?!"

"You're really hopeless," Noelle sighed in defeat, while Rhein was pinching the bridge of his nose.

The corners of his eyes were twitching in annoyance at the ash-blonde's stupidity. He was expecting the Black Bulls to be trouble makers, not idiotic individuals.

'Why the hell are we stuck with this stupid Black Bull boy when Xierra and I are supposed to patrol the village?'

Inari didn't have the mind to laugh when he heard what Rhein was thinking about, considering how serious the situation was for them.

[ Saussy Village ]

The two conjoined squads walked ahead until they reached the brick bridge that connected the entrance of the village and the lands by the rivers.

"A magical mist?" Asta repeated, taking in mind what Rhein told him before. "Once we enter it, we probably won't be able to get anywhere," Noelle explained to the ash-blonde calmly, different from her usual arrogant attitude.

"We'll lose our sense of direction and end up wandering around in the mist," Rhein continued the silver-haired female's statement with his own.

"What's going on?" Xierra muttered to herself, putting a hand below her chin in a thinking motion.

Inari's guard was up and ready to defend them at any time. A tingling feeling made its way to his whole body, covering him from top to bottom as well as giving him goosebumps.

"This whole thing is creeping me out," Inari voiced out, breaking all their thoughts. "Kids, better put your guards up and get ready. I have a feeling that we're gonna have to engage in battle for this one."

Despite Inari being a fox, the squad members listened to him completely as if he was the one in charge of the two combined groups.

"Even if we go in there with our own magic..." Noelle began with a concerned frown whilst she crossed her arms. "I doubt we'll be able to reach our destination, despite having more than one Magic Knights."

Her roseate eyes remained glued on the mist-covered village.

She was concerned, Xierra could tell.

Just as the blue-eyed female was about to comfort the royal, she heard Magna's thoughts. It was a part of her abilities after she gained her grimoire, she should really get used to it.

'Magic that can cover a whole village...'

Magna craned his head up to look at the giant dome the mist made. It was humongous, bigger than the whole village itself.

'This probably isn't a villager's spell,' he concluded to himself.

Xierra hummed in understanding at the senior's thoughts. Even if the villagers had strong magic users, according to Magna, their chief was the strongest.

Seyhe used Sword Magic.

The mist that covered the entire place had nothing to do with the chief at all. Xierra fell into a frowning state as well, a small sigh escaped her lips.

'Inari, is it possible that this is an attack?'

The black-coated fox beside her nodded solemnly and looked at the misty dome. 'Yes, it is possible, Master. There's a big chance that some group attacked them.'

'Some group?'

'Yes. I sensed multiple uses of magic within the dome. Either that was the villagers fighting back or that a group attacked the place,' Inari explained.

'However, considering that the traces of mana I felt were strong, I crossed out the possibility of the villagers fighting back.'

'I see...'

Magna pursed his lips and contemplated on his choices. Looking back, he only had four newbies to work with.

One had a fox companion, the other member of the Crimson Lion Kings had flame magic or something, a female royal who couldn't control her magic, and an orphan with anti-magic––

Wait, anti-magic?

Something clicked in Magna's head as he turned to look at Asta. "Hey, Asta. Cut this mist with that sword of yours."

The winds blew harder, raging as they flailed their frigid air around the place. The temperature instantly dropped down as they walked closer.

One moment it was a blistering heat and another, they felt like they're in a snowy area.

"Sure thing!"

"Oi, oi. Lower your volume," Rhein complained as he clasped both of his ears from Asta's booming voice. Asta paid no mind whilst he proceeded to step forward towards the mist before realizing something.

"Huh?"

The ash-blonde then waved his hand around him in a dismissing manner, "No way, no way. That's a dumb thing to say. You can't cut through the mist with a sword––"

"You're the dumb one!" Magna exclaimed in disbelief, still wondering how the hell this boy managed to survive the flaming boars that chased them before with that brain of his.

"You idiot," Inari deadpanned, "It's a magic mist. You can just cut through it with your anti-magic sword."

"Oh, yeah!"

Xierra face-palmed with a small grunt while the two royals sighed in different directions, done with the ash-blonde's stupid reaction.

Asta got his broad sword out of his grimoire and swung it at the mist in a big motion. The mist dissipated into nothing but thin air when the ash-blonde male kept swinging his sword around.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!! ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!"

"What the hell is he shoutin' about?"

"No idea. Just leave him be, let's go."

The other four followed close behind and the mist began clearing up, showing distinct buildings of the villagers' homes. Dead and leafless black trees covered the area with a gloomy grey sky to add to the mood.

"Good! Now, let's continue!" Magna shouted with his grimoire open, Xierra and Rhein did the same with an enlarged Inari beside them, scanning the place for anything peculiar.

"Right!!!" Asta kept swinging his sword left and right, getting rid of the mist that blurred their visions of the seemingly deserted village.

"Take a right there!"

"Got it!!!"

"Take a left there!"

"Yes, sir!!!"

"You seem to know where you're going," Noelle compliment, something she doesn't do every day.

Even the ever-so-royal Rhein agreed wholeheartedly, crossing his arms in front of him with his three-leaf clover grimoire floating open beside him.

"True. You seem so familiar with this place." Xierra giggled in agreement, placing her hand by her opened grimoire.

"Well, yeah. Left!"

Once Asta slashed through the "last" mist, they all froze in place and their words were stuck in their throat like a lump. They all stared in one direction, where incredible mana was being let out.

It was too strong for their liking.

"Ugh, did you feel that?" Magna queried, glancing back at the younger ones with slight concern.

"Yes. Powerful magic," Noelle replied while sweating slightly, fearing who had that large amount of magical power.

"Brrr! Who has this much magic?" Rhein muttered while rubbing his upper arms. "The last person I saw to have this much magic was probably Captain Fuegoleon."

They were feeling a little chilly due to the mist. Or is it the gloomy mood they're in?

Inari took his stance and looked around, his ears moving once in a while, "Master, something's here. Kids, keep your guards up at any cost. Also, lower your volumes. They could be anywhere."

"We know, we know. Now stop nagging," the carmine-eyed Vermillion protested. It seemed like he was having enough of this dreadful "patrol" he and Xierra were supposed to go on.

"Sheesh, moody much?"

Rhein just raised an eyebrow at Inari's statement, glancing at the smirking fox who was waving his tail slowly.

"Stop fightin' you two," Magna called out as he turned towards Asta afterwards, "Straight ahead. Be careful."

Asta followed Magna's directions, slashing in front of him in one swift movement. The mist ahead began going away into nothing but air.

"After this, we should end up in the square," the older male spoke to them in a hushed voice, taking Inari's advice to heart.

With one last big swing, the mist in front of them cleared up. They all stared with wide eyes upon setting them on the kneeling group of villagers.

Their clothes were slightly ragged and dirty, and the children were all hugging their parents who kept them close in fear. Scratches and dirt covered their quivering forms, frightened of something.

The villagers all circled close to each other, eyes not wanting to look up as they were brimmed with tears of dread and scare.

'What happened... here?' Xierra thought in worry when she heard wailings of children who were afraid of a certain something.

The two squads gasped when they saw gargantuan sharp particles of ices above the kneeling helpless villagers.

They tried hard as they prayed to who-knows-what, fearing for their lives and their children's future, too.

The giant silvery shards were shivering ever-so-slightly, alerting the Magic Knights that were there watching the whole scene unfolded right before their eyes.

Inari's growls became deeper and gruffer, his furs standing up like spikes and needles.

'They're right above the villagers' heads!' Xierra thought with panic and a flustered behaviour, preparing a spell to counter the pointed ices.

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One wrong move and the shards would come rain down on them in seconds.

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One wrong move and they would all stand by death's door.

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One wrong move and they would lose a whole village's lives.

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One wrong move... and they would fail.

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The air shifted coolly, turning more frigid every second that had passed.

The ground below was hard and firm as the five took their stances when they heard someone declared lowly, "This is your execution."

And at that moment...

The sharp shards of frozen water rained down onto the villagers–– helplessly giving in their lives to the hands of fate itself.

To be continued...

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